Mandla Mandela’s ex-wife Mbali Makhathini welcomes first child

Durban - Mbali Makhathini, formerly known among the AbaThembu nation as Nodiyala Mandela, the ex-wife of Mandla Mandela, the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council, and the grandson of icon Nelson Mandela, has welcomed her first born.

Speaking to the Daily News on Sunday, Makhathini, who broke ties with the Mvezo Chief in 2017, said that after many attempts to bear a child, she had received favour from God and gave birth earlier this month to a boy with her new husband.

Makhathini was married to Mandela in 2011 but divorced in 2017 after the relationship reportedly turned sour.

“As everybody knows, I was married but had no child. So after my separation from Mandla, I moved on and found love elsewhere and so I am extremely excited to be a mother to a healthy baby boy. I know some of you are dying to see the pictures of our boy, but we will not be releasing them until the baby has matured,” said Makhathini.

Asked whether she had struggled to conceive in her previous marriage, Makhathini said that she could not comment on her previous marriage and why she divorced Mandela.

“I will not dwell on the past, but when the time comes, I will openly speak. For now, it is important for me to focus on my husband and my child, who have brought so much joy to my life,” she said.

A source with intimate knowledge from the Mvezo royal house told the Daily News that Makhathini deserved all the positive things in life after the abuse she endured at the hands of her ex-husband.

“I am happy for Nodiyala. We loved her very much, and it pained us to see her in pain when she was married to the chief (Mandela). At some point in December 2015, she was neglected by Mandla, who, at the time, as per the family tradition, we were all in Qunu, but she was left alone in Mvezo with no groceries nor electricity.

“Nodiyala was completely neglected and treated like a worthless wife, and no one could do anything because everybody feared Mandla. Mandla would take decisions without consulting her as the Queen. She would lock herself in the house and cry while Mandla was out gallivanting,” said the source.

Attempts to get a comment from Mandela were unsuccessful as he did not respond to questions from the publication.

In 2015, Mandela married his fourth wife, Rabia Clarke and converted to her Islam religion. Some within the family described this as a contravention of his Xhosa heritage.

“He lost the family’s respect. He no longer practices our religion and sometimes does not even attend family events. He despises anyone who drinks alcohol and refuses to perform key family practices of our tradition,” said a Mandela relative.

Mandela married his first wife, Tando Mabuna, in 2004, his second wife, Anais Grimaud, in 2010, and Makhathini in 2011. While his divorce from Mabuna was in process, Grimaud returned to her home in Reunion in 2012 with her son after Mandela claimed he was not the child’s biological father.

Daily News